“The national attention and viral nature of a simple message that encouraged motorists to follow the law and signal when changing lanes cannot be denied,” said Secretary Davey. “We are hoping to hear your creative #DOTSPEAK ideas and together help stop bad behavior from happening behind the wheel.”

Following the ‘CHANGING LANES? USE YAH BLINKAH’ highway message board campaign, MassDOT began reviewing its existing public safety campaigns to find new ways to use the message board medium to positively impact driver behavior and improve safety for all roadway users.

#DOTSPEAK entries may use local vernacular or contain common texting abbreviations, no profanity please. The messages must adhere to the highway sign character limitations. You can share your ideas on Twitter @MassDOT, Facebook.com/MassDOTInfo and on Instagram @MassDOT with #DOTSPEAK.

Contest winners will have their message displayed on hundreds of message boards across the Commonwealth during some of the busiest travel periods of the year:

Each winner will also receive a $50 gift card from our MassDOT service plaza partners: Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, Exxon Mobil, and McDonald’s. In addition, service plaza partner Gulf will provide each winner with a $100 gift card. The deadline for entries in the #DOTSPEAK contest is August 1.

The challenge is to create a two panel message, 3 lines per panel, and 8 characters per line.

PANEL 1 PANEL 2

Line 1 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Line 1 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Line 2 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Line 2 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Line 3 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Line 3 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

In addition to letters A to Z, the following characters may also be used:

.

,

?

!

&

#

-

In 2009, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) was created to unify the state’s various transportation agencies. MassDOT now includes the Highway Division, the MBTA and Rail Transit Division, the Aeronautics Division, and the Registry of Motor Vehicles. MassDOT is committed to providing a safe and reliable transportation system to all those who travel in the Commonwealth and works to deliver excellent customer service. MassDOT has been nationally recognized for its innovative approach to transportation, including the Accelerated Bridge Program, the “Where’s My Bus and Train?” apps and “Fast 14” work. For more information, visit MassDOT at our website: www.mass.gov/massdot blog: http://blog.mass.gov/transportation/, or follow MassDOT on twitter at https://twitter.com/MassDOT and Facebook at www.facebook.com/massdotinfo.